Fighting Terrorism By Restoring the Golden Rule

Concucius formulated the Golden Rule. 
(Unknown photographer of ancient painting.)

Karen Armstrong spoke at the annual TED Conference on February, 2008 where she received the 2008 TED Prize.  

She is such a wonderful writer, and nobody speaks better about religion the she does. At the TED Conference she spoke about the common passion for compassion underlying all religions. But in today's world, religions have become a major source of hate and division.

"A lot of people rather be right than compassionate," she said, and sketched out a plan for how to make religion "a force for harmony in the world." She sees the key to do that in a restoration of the Golden Rule (which was first stated by Confucius, and later repeated by Jesus from Nazareth) as the central global religious doctrine.

Karen Armstrong was a nun for many years, but lost her faith and returned to the secular world. She later rediscovered her interest in religion, and has become one of the most popular writers about world religions, and religious history.

Click her to watch her speech at TED 2008.

Hans Sandberg